Statins and Hypertension

[baumgrenze]

Has anyone monitoring these forums begun collecting information about a possible relationship between statin therapy and hypertension?

It seems a reasonable question to ask:

1) It is clear that statins inhibit the biosynthetic pathway that produces ubiquinone (Co Q10).

2) It is clear that ubiquinone is important in the control of blood pressure.

3) It stands to reason that lowering ones serum ubiquinone level is likely to cause hypertension.

Here is my anecdotal contribution:

At age 62 I was prescribed Lipitor at 10 mg/day

Fifteen months later I was prescribed hydrocholorothiazide at 25 mg/day to control mild hypertension.

In my 66th year the Lipitor dose was increased to 20 mg/day and then to 80 mg/day and finally (because I complained of side effects) lowered to 40 mg/day all within a five month period.

In my 67th year my doctor began the search for a more potent antihypertensive that would control my blood pressure without causing significant side effects.

Halfway through that year I stopped taking Lipitor because I complained about 'tired legs.'

Now in my 68th year I am taking supplemental B12 (prescribed by a neurologist to combat mild peripheral neuropathy) and ubiquinone (self-prescribed) to evaluate its impact on my hypertension.

For me, the short term effect of 50 mg/day of oral ubiquinone is that I see the same control of hypertension with half the medication (Benicar at 10 mg/day, down from 20 mg/day) I was previously taking.

Is my experience an outlier?

Should I initiate a poll?

Thanks,

baumgrenze

[Allen1]

Hi there baumgrenze,

I do believe Ray Holder has mentioned that taking Q10 helps to lower blood pressure and that he managed to stop using one of his blood pressure tablets by careful monitoring. Since I stopped taking statins my heart rhythm has become so much more stable, it used to be like a badly tuned engine with pre ignition and misfires (quite frightening at times). Also by taking L-Carnitine and Q10 as suggested by Ray and Adec, my heart does not feel so heavy and runs a lot smoother than it did apart from now and then.

Have a look at some of Ray Holders posts as he can explain the Q10 effects a lot better than I could.

All the best,

Allen. :)

[Biologist]

Q10 is a vasodilator of the micro-circulature (+/-7,000 miles, I believe in the human body -- basically that means our capillaries) which lowers blood pressure. Alternatively (per one theory), there maybe a mechanism whereby resistance is lessened via surface alterations of the cells lining these tiny vessels (the endothelium cell layer) by Q10.

Biologist

[Ray Holder]

Hi Baumgrenz

If you google An introduction to Coenzyme Q10 and Langsjoen you will get a link to Dr Peter Langsjoen's paper on the subject, it is a few years old now but none the less important for all that.

Later papers of his have shown that he meets new cases of statin induced cardiomopathy in his cardiology practise every week. This one tells of success with the use of Q10 in bringing things back nearer normal.

I suggest that statins, by reducing the supply of Q10 in the body, take away some of the energy source for the heart, among many other things. The first thing which happens is a reduction in the strength of the filling phase of the heart, the most energy greedy, and this leads to back pressure which the outgoing heart pulse has to overcome, so building up the blood pressure.

Dr Langsjoen states that BP medications may possibly be reduced by one or two of the drugs in use. I was previously using three, Diltiazem, bendrofluazide, and Isosorbide mono. I now take a lot of Q10, and only need Isosorbide, probably because I create a lot of adrenaline which narrows the blood vessels, an hour of TV and my BP shoots up!!!

I govern my Q10 dosage mainly by keeping an eye on my BP, if it tends upwards over say a week or more, I try the effect of an extra 100mg to watch what happens. At my advanced age, 87, I take 3x300mg divided a day, and my doctor seems happy with the results, averaging about 140/80. Carnitine deficiency can also play a part in this connection, as a post polio I have more need of carnitine than most, others may not find this necessity.

Watch your BP if you are taking the BP drugs and Q10 at the same time, drugs will only drive your BP downwards, and don't know when to stop. Q10 normalises your heart action, thus BP falls to a correct figure, but BP drugs will only drag it down further to too low a figure. I stopped mine over a period as BP improved.

Ray

[cjbrooksjc]

Baumgrenze: I was on (up to) 40 Mg of zocor for a few years and I take, as recommended by my cardiologist, at least 600 Mg Q10 daily in 200 Mg doses after eating **http://www.qgel.com/. I have stopped taking my BP stuff (Benecar) completely. Your 50 Mg seems low, but take what works for you.

Best,

Brooks

[Biologist]

Dr. Langsjoen writes the following:

*http://www.thincs.org/discuss.Jan03.htm

"Since CoQ10 has not been shown to have any direct
vasodilating effect, one can postulate that the normalization
of BP in many of these patients can be explained by the
normalization of their diastolic function. It would appear
that this early heart muscle dysfunction is in large measure
related to the deficiency of a simple, but very essential
nutrient, CoQ10"

The primary means of CoQ10's effects on hypertension are likely as he (and Ray) describes, however, what we also know is that CoQ10 reduces resistance within the microcirculature (see the following hyperlink, and excerpts with all study references omitted by me). It is the mechanism of this action which remains unknown. There are several possibilities with include: vasodilation -- either via direct or indirect action -- which over thousands miles of vessels would entail minuscule and undetectable lumenal diameter increases per centimeter of a vessel tested; alternatively, resistance may also be lowered by cellular surface changes in vessel walls allowing for smoother flow; or alternatively by action on the red blood corpuscles themselves (e.g., enhanced pliability for passage through the narrowest level of capillaries for reduced resistance). I contend (mainly to be contrarian ) that, say, the immediate alleviation of angina may be more so due to this aspect of action (i.e., reduction of microcirculature resistance) since the replacement of CoQ10 via it's assimilation into heart muscle cells and into their mitochondria takes time often measured in weeks. For example, CoQ10 taken today for increased heart cell performance will become effective next week. At best. The reduction in microcirculature resistance might be virtually instantaneous. Both mechanisms lower blood pressure and reduce the strain on the heart.

Quotes to follow from the following URL:

*http://www.vrp.com/articles.aspx?ProdID=art2187&zTYPE=2

"Microcirculation supplies oxygen and nutrients to heart tissue and all of the 75 trillion cells that comprise the human body. In fact, each cell in the body has its own personal blood supply no further than 1/500th of an inch from the 18,000 miles of capillaries that comprise the microcirculatory system of the human body. Microcirculation also is important to the regulation of coronary blood flow. New techniques for exploring the coronary microcirculation have revealed that microvascular damage lowers coronary vasodilator reserve, the ability of the vessels to dilate, which is linked to an increased risk of clinical deterioration and death from heart disease..."

"Coenzyme Q10 is thought to decrease peripheral resistance, the lowering of blood flow in the small blood vessels called arterioles. When blood flow decreases, this backs up blood in the arteries that feed blood into the arteriole. Much like a 3-lane highway funneling into a single lane, there is inherent back up arising from the decreased flow capacity. The back up of blood causes the arterial pressure to increase."

"Some 70-90 percent of the overall peripheral resistance of the circulatory system arises at the level of the microcirculation. Indeed at rest only 5 percent of the blood is in the microcirculatory system, yet upwards of 27 percent of the resistance that the heart must pump against arises in these microvessels. CoQ10’s ability to decrease peripheral resistance in hypertensive subjects, as indicated in double-blind, clinical trials, suggests it has an important influence on the microcirculation system."

Biologist

[Brian C.]

"...an hour of TV and my BP shoots up!!!"

Ray, sell the TV. Stop the newspapers. Listen to lots of good music instead :wink:


Brian.